My Little Pony: Guardian of the Glade
by LurkerLordX
Summary: When Claire/White Rose is banished from the glade by the Black Unicorn, and stripped of much of her power can the elements of Harmony help her find a way home before Equestria is consumed by Dark Magic?


MLP: The Guardian of the Glade

A storm raged, the likes of which Equestria had never seen, the black clouds rolling with ferocity even Rainbow Dash could not tame.

"Rainbow Dash come down here, you can't do any more," Twilight Sparkle warned, the raging storm having grounded all other pegesi already.

"I can do this!" she shouted confidently as she flew from cloud to cloud, kicking holes into them with her hind hooves.

A particularly loud crash and flash of lightning made Twilight jump and shut her eyes, as he opened them a pony like figure was speeding toward the ground.

"Dash!" Twilight shouted, running toward the falling filly.

"What!" came a familiar voice in the sky.

Taking her eyes off the falling filly and back to the sky Twilight gave a sigh of relive to see Rainbow Dash still dancing among the clouds trying to pacify the storm, it lasted only a moment before her gaze returned to the path of the falling filly, her horn glowed brilliantly for a moment and in a flash she was gone. When Twilight Sparkle reappeared she nearly gasped. Unconscious in the cobble stones, in a impact crater that would have surely killed any other pony was a white filly, mane and hooves of of gold, wings of red and orange, the later of which was the most startling of news, horn AND wings, traits that only Celestia and Luna had. Her cutie mark was also unusual, while most were upbeat such as smiling flowers or abstract such as apples, magic sparks, or the sun, this strange white pony, no bigger or older then her it seemed born a mark of a white rose being bound and choked by it's own thorns. The filly was clearly unconscious, probably suffering numerous broken bones if not internal bleeding, Twilight gave a silent thanks to Celestia as she closed her eyes, focused and in a instant both her and the filly vanished in a wink.

The triage unit was highly mobile, and the medical ponies were quite skilled, they should, it was their special talent after all. The Triage unit consisted of bedding and curtains but little more, still it was enough to get the strange new filly cared for and bandaged up despite Twilight landing still some distance away from the hospital proper.

The unusual filly awoke with a start, "This isn't over!" she shouted before a trio of medical ponies could restrain her.

"Please relax miss."

"Your badly hurt."

"You must rest."

He wings flared out for a moment, giving a imposing visage despite her bandages and casts, added only with a look that made every pony watching, and there were quite a few, shiver, but it lasted only a moment, because she must have pulled something, as the golden maned white filly had a sudden seizure and went lip.

The medical trio set to work getting her into a more comfortable position as she began to look around, "W-where am I?"

"Ponyville Emergency Care." One said.

"If not for Twilight Sparkle's quick actions you might not have made it."

"Who?" the filly said as a sextet of ponies approached her bedding, a herd of other colorful ponies and one baby dragon watching from the sidelines.

"T-that would be me." the lavender pony said piping up.

The filly took a moment to look at Twilight then to the medical ponies, "T-thank you, but I have to get going."

"Your not going anywhere," A orange pony in a cowboy hat piped in with a slight southern drawn, "You need to rest."

"That's completely out of the question," The filly said struggling to get back to her feet, the six ponies helping the orderlies restrain her.

"You need to heal." whispered a lightly lemon colored pony, her voice soft and unassertive.

Finally the filly gave a exhausted sigh and relented her struggles, "I can't just wait here and heal, I need to get back to the Glade, before that blasted nightmare stallion does irreparable damage."

There was a collective shudder among the collective ponies, a blue one with a rainbow tail was the first to speak in a hushed tone, "N-Nightmare M-Moon is back?"

"What? Who?" the white filly said confused, "I said nightmare stallion, not a planet. The Stallion of Nightmares, the Colt of the Undream. You know, the Black Unicorn?"

Several eyes turned to Twilight Sparkle, "M-Me?"

The filly sighed again, "No," she let out a exasperated sigh, turning her head toward one of the curtains that separated the different emergency sections, "Him!"

A mural appeared on the canvas, a glade in ruins, shrouded in eternal darkness while a dark unicorn stood defiantly as lord over all, unlike the new arrival he was fully grown, a long black spiral horn atop his head. The filly used the gasp of surprised to right herself, charging haphazardly at the mural, only to skid to a halt and roll and the curtains parted at her touch and she ran past it.

She gasped turning back, "What happened to the portal!" she exclaimed as a second mural appeared on the other side, she charged it and once more passed under it.

Dropping to her knees she let out defeated sigh as Twilight Sparkle moved beside her, "What's wrong?"

"T-the portal...why won't it open?" the filly said dejected.

"P-portal?" the lightly lemon colored filly asked in her soft and unsure tone.

As the orderlies helped the filly back to her bed she sighed, "It's how I move between realms, but someone, most likely that Black Unicorn," she spit the last words, "has somehow sealed the gateway."

Once more several eyes settled on Twilight Sparkle, she pulled her head in a flushed at the cheeks, "I didn't do anything, I swear."

"What is going on here?"

The voice was unmistakable and as Celestia appeared, her rainbow mane flowing in the wind as all the ponies present bowed their heads and forelegs. Celestia approached the strange new filly, and looked to the mural with a critical look, "That is neither my sister Luna or Twilight Sparkle. Nor do I know of any other Pegahorns, just who are you and that black unicorn?"

The filly sighed as the murals began to vanish, "Cla..." she began, only to correct herself, "White Rose, Guardian of the Glade."

"And what is the glade?" Celestia asks, still a little critical.

"In a nut shell," White Rose began, "It's the hub of all magical worlds. If it falls then all magical worlds connected to it will find their own magic vanishing or falling under the control of whoever calls themselves Guardian in my absence."

A shiver of fear ran through several ponies in the crowd, followed by murmurs of "Our magic? Gone?" It was hardly universal, and some murmured statements inferring White rose must have hit her head harder then she thought to make up such a story OR to confuse it with the tale of Nightmare Moon. While others made remarks AGAIN implying Princess Luna or Twilight Sparkle must be the Black Unicorn.

Celestia turned to Twilight Sparkle, "Twilight see what the library has on this Glade, and ways to reach it. As for the rest of you ponies, let's show our guest Equestria's hospitality to expedite her recovery." then turned to White Rose, "We will do all we can to patch you up and return you home White Rose. But for now you must rest, can you do that for us?"

White Rose nodded slowly, "I can, but time is of the essence." her horn suddenly glowing brightly before she let out a annoyed whinny, if only my healing magic was working."

"Magic is Twilight's specialty!" A pink pony said slapping the back of Twilight, "If anyone can help you it's her!"

Once more Twilight Sparkles flustered, "Pinky Pie..."

"Now please everypony White Rose needs her rest, I'm sure all will be explained in time but for now let her rest."

"Spike take a letter," Twilight Sparkle began as the book she was reading was telekinetically closed.

The little dragon grabbed parchment and quill immediately, "Right away Twilight."

"Princess Celestia thank you for coming so quickly, I knew something as special as another Pegahorn would weren't investigation by yourself, and I am glad you did not consider my actions to forward or out of place seeing as Pegahorns are not something I am well versed in.

"As you have requested I have began researching this Glade White Rose spoke of but have found no mention of it in any of my book so far, nor have I found any records of previous fillies with a similar mane, hoof, horn or cutie mark as White Rose. I will continue researching but as yet have nothing to report.

As for the status of White Rose..."

Twilight Sparkle paused a moment, moving over to her window to look outside with a worried gaze, "Her recovery is..."

Twilight Sparkle was cut short as a pegasus began to fall from the sky, hoping to avoid the same problem as earlier she focused, winking into being just under the falling Pegasus and looked up, focusing her gaze to telekineticly catch the falling pony, but her horn did not glow this time. Gasping she closed her eyes and redoubled her efforts her horn starting to glow the Pegasus's free fall averted as she set it carefully on the ground.

"Are you alright?"

The pegasus looked around a moment, flapping her wings a bit then lifting up, "Y-Yeah...now" her voice a little unsure, "I don't know w-what happened, my wings just...stopped working."

Twilight Sparkle's mind retraced back to White Rose's words, as well as her own sudden loss of power, 'If it falls...[everypony] will find their own magic vanishing or falling under the control of whoever calls themselves Guardian in my absence.' She shivered, she never thought a Pegasus's wings counted as magic, but perhaps they were?

"I think every Pegasus should be working in groups for now, if your wings failed others could as well. Ideally you should avoid flying at all, just in case."

The pegasus flapped her wings defiantly a moment, "It's not that serious." she said confidently, "You worry too much."

As the Pegasus flew off Twilight watched her, "Am I? That's 2 winged ponies in less then 24 hours who have lost the power to fly."

Her head low she began to trot back home, just as Spike was catching up to her.

"Where did you vanish off to Twilight," spike admonished.

"A-A pony was falling," she said a little distracted, "I wanted to catch her."

"O-Oh..." he said a little confused, "Ready to finish the letter?"

Twilight Sparkle nodded, "Now more then ever."

White Rose looked up from her bed as she heard the hoofsteps of a pony's entrance, she was healing quickly but was still bed ridden, her guest was a fellow white pony with a well quoifed violet mane.

"I hope I am not interrupting," the new arrival said in a dignified tone, "I just had to {whinny}."

The look of abject horror that crossed the muzzle of Rarity spoke volumes, as she tried to apologize however she only whinnied again.

White Rose looked distracted a moment then smiled, "Try now."

"Oh my, I don't know what came over me," Rarity admonished herself, "That was quite uncooth of me."

"Not your fault," White Rose apologized, "Right now the Glade is adjusting to the Black Unicorn's rise to power, and your realm is saturated with magic. The ripple effect will effect thing that normally would not be. All the more reason I need to find a way back to the glade. Once he settles into the role the only thing between him and complete dominion over all magic is how long it takes him to corrupt the triplets to his side."

"The triplets?" Rarity inquired curiously.

White Rose looked thoughtful a moment, "Sort of the living embodiment of magic, they need to accept a guardian for them to gain full access to the powers of the position. Their somewhat neutral but each represents a different leaning. One for good magic, one for pure neutral magic, and one for dark magic, though none of them are really 'good or evil.'"

"I have never heard of such a thing."

White Rose sighed, "I suspected as much, I'm beginning to think Equestria is not part of the hub realms, which would explain why I can't portal out, there aren't any connections to the Glade here. But since a one way door sent me here there's now a connection going out, enough for the Black Unicorn's machinations to have a effect here."

"Oh dear," it was the same lemon colored pony from before, who had just entered and spoke.

White Rose smiled, "So what brings me guests?" clearly trying to change the subject, "And who are you?"

Rarity spoke first, "I am Rarity, proprietor of Carousel Boutique, and I just had to learn how you got your mane so brilliantly golden."

The lemon one nearly whispered her name below the range of audibility, "Fluttershy...I just came to see how you were healing."

White Rose flipped her mane into view as she addressed Rarity, "Oh this, and my wings, are their natural color, it's a pretty long story but when I first became White Rose they were the innate colors." Then she paused a moment, "The wings are a different story though...I got them later."

Fluttershy perked up slightly, "Your mane and wings changed color when you got your cutie mark that dramatically?"

Fluttershy glanced back at her own wings a moment, "You didn't have wings at first?"

"My what?" White Rose said confused. Then she took a moment and nodded at Fluttershy.

Rarity pointed to the marking of the Rose choked by thorns on White Rose's flanks, craning her head slightly she gasped, "Where did that come from?"

"W-Where did you get your wings," Fluttershy asked meekly.

"You don't recognize your own Cutie Mark?" Rarity said confused.

"Never had such a thing before."

Both ponies gasped, "B-But how could you not have a Cutie Mark," Fluttershy was shocked.

"Well," White Rose looked thoughtful a moment, "As I am becoming more and more sure of, Equestria and the hub worlds play by very different rules. Though one thing I have learned over my tenure is when traveling through the hub realms expect things to change, I could spend hours telling stories of how things I had become accustomed to changed when I found myself in a new realm, like that one time where my Exemplar mode was far more accessible and was more akin to a dragon then a pterodactyl, or that one time my mega-form came with a drop in intellect."

"Exemplar m-mode...dragon?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Mega form?" Rarity wondered.

"Long story short," White Rose explained, "They were my powers before I inherited the mantle of the Guardian. When pushed to the limit of my virtue, which is defined by Love of All Life, I can take on the physical personification of my totem animal, a prehistoric bird known as a Pterodactyl. It's incredibly draining both physically and mentally and I can't maintain it for long, under normal circumstances, but again some realms change up that dynamic. While my Mega-Form covers me from head to toe in armor and increases my size several times over so that I can fight the giant monsters that would become a inevitability in my old role as the Marine of Love."

White Rose let out a sigh of regret, "Though it's anyone guess just how many of my original or Guardian powers remained intact, or not heavily altered by my exile here. As I already mentioned powers can change drastically just by moving between hub worlds, being throwing into a of Hub world is bound to have far more drastic effects."

Both ponies nodded somewhat confused.

White Rose looked mournful a moment before looking at Fluttershy, "My wings were a gift...from a dear friend, Do you know anything of phoenixs?"

Fluttershy nodded meekly while Rarity remembered that one time when Philamena, Princess Celestia's Phoenix was brought to town.

White Rose looked reflective again, "His name was Rom, he was once the partner to my friend Michael, but he gave his life and I got his wings in the bargain." a few tears began to rin down her muzzle as old memories surfaced.

Rarity moved over, as did Fluttershy, touching their muzzles to White Rose's in a gesture of solidarity.

Fluttershy's voice was barely audible, "I-I'm sorry."

A long pause followed until White Rose spoke next.

"So," White Rose said looking back to her mark and then over at the ones on both girls, "Tell me about these Cutie Marks."

The chime of the door sent the proprietor of Sugar Cube all a twitter, the hyperactive pink party pony Pinky Pie squeeing as she bounced out of the kitchen to see who the customer was, and squeed again when she saw it was.

'Rainbow Dash!"

"Hi Pinky," the technicolor Pegasus responded casually, "I just came over to pick up those cupcakes I ordered."

Pinky Pie vanished into the kitchen faster then Rainbow Dash could pull off the same stunt, and returned even quicker with the tray setting it on the counter, "They're all done!" she chirped in a happier then normal tone.

Glancing around Dash noted several boxes, she didn't need to guess the contents or reason, "Who's the party for this time?"

"You guessed!" Pinky Pie cheered, "How?"

"You're Pinky Pie," As if that answered everything.

She squeed in response, Dash rolled her eyes and waited for the mare to calm down.

"It's for the new pony, White Rose!" Pinky Pie compressed a moment before exploding in a shower of emotion, "Oh this tops even the time Twilight arrived and went all 'Eeeeeeeeeee,' and I never thought anything would top that!"

Dash rolled her eyes again, "Figured, that pegicorn is as kookie as you are. Did you hear the story she told Rarity and Fluttershy?"

"Nooooooooooo," Pinky said invading Dash's personal space, "What did she tell them?"

Dash yawned, "Something about being part dragon and a giant, I dunno. You'd think being a pegicorn who can paint murals would be special enough, but noooooo, she has to be better then Princess Celestia."

Pinky Pie's ears drooped as she tried to grab a cupcake, but her body would not respond, her hove not flexing nor her elbow twisting enough to grab the treat, by the same token Rainbow Dash's body had also gone unusually rigid restricting her movements drastically, and both their brightly colored manes dulled several hews. Pinky to her credit kept trying to grab the cupcake while Rainbow Dash stared in mute horror at her dull mane.

"What the?" Dash finally managed just as their flexibility and colors returned to normal, just in time to see Pinky Pie shove the cupcake into her muzzle.

Pinky giggled, "That was weird."

"That was White Rose," Rainbow Dash growled, storming toward the door, "Weird stuff has only started happening since she arrived."

Pinky tilted her head looking to the counter then to Dash "You forgot your cupcakes." And quickly grabbed the box in her teeth before bouncing after the blue Pegasus.

"N-No...stay away!" Princess Luna cried out from her room, Celestia charging down the hall wit ha pair of her guards right behind her.

"Sister," she cried out, "I'm coming!"

As the doors burst open Celestia gasped to see a apparition, a pure black unicorn, as tall and grown as she was but also translucent moving toward the much younger black pegicorn Luna.

"S-Stay back!" Luna cried out, as the tip of the black unicorn's horn began to pulse with a black light, sucking all warmth and light from the room.

Before Celestia or her guards could react the room was plunged into pure darkness, and the Black Unicorn spoke, hit's voice making the very magic in Celestia's blood run cold, "I can not act on this plane with out jeopardizing the master's plan, not yet, but you can, Nightmare Moon."

As the light returned the apparition was gone, as was Luna, the last thing Celestia and her guards saw was Nightmare Moon's deathly glare before a bolt of magic shot from her horn at them.

Rarity found herself unable to focus on her craft, and soon found herself peering out the window of her shop, her recent meeting with the new pony in town had weighed heavily on her mind, and as she peered out she went over her thoughts.

'She can't really be who she claims to be? We would have heard of another pegicorn on par with Princess Celestia.' As she stared out she was at first oblivious to the darkening skies, lost in her train of thought, 'She did have a pretty nasty fall...but at the same time she did show that unusual painting skill and how many ponies, of any breed have wings and manes of such vibrant color.'

Rarity was just not sure what to make of the new pony and her fancy tales, but her reflections were quickly broken as she saw the moon starting to rise.

"It's too early for night time." She mused as eh hurried to her front door and out to the town square, a chill wind blowing as a figure materialized out of violet smoke, a figure she knew all to well.

"Nightmare Moon!"

It was Fluttershy, who spoke with unusual confidence, a fierce look in her eyes, "What have you done with Princess Luna?"

Rarity was taken aback at the ferocity in Fluttershy's voice, but not surprised, few things could get under Flutershy's skin, and if anything could draw out that more aggressive side it was the personification of evil.

Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes, a bolt of telekinetic magic knocking the Element of Kindness away, "She is where all of Ponyville..." she paused to laugh darkly, "No all of Equestria will soon be, consumed by darkness."

Rarity looked around her, the billowing purple fog gathering around everypony present, even as she saw her friends charging toward the center of town and Nightmare Moon, she watched as Earth Pony, Unicorn, and Pegasus alike grew darker in color, larger in statue, in short she watched as Nightmare Moon multiplied, without thinking she thrust a bolt of telekinetic force at Fluttershy, knocking her off of the path of a charging Nightmare Unicorn.

A explosion of smoke obscured everything as more and more ponies turned and in the fog Rarity heard another voice call out.

"Everypony, run for the woods, Ponyville is no place for the good."

Rarity stood her ground however, at least until she saw Fluttershy, or what she hoped was Fluttershy's shadow, pass over head, then she made a break for the familiar voice. "Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Pinky Pie, Spike, Applejack, is everypony alright?"

She got several confirmations, and a few more besides, and as she merged from the smoke she saw that all her friends, and a few other ponies had escaped the fog, including White Rose, who was being helped by one of the orderlies to just walk. Twilight's horn was aglow, and she dug her hooves into the ground, her voice strained as she shouted, her eyes shut tight.

"Everypony follow Zocura, go. Now!"

Rarity moved over to her fellow unicorn as several others stood there looking curiously. Just as a pair of black unicorns, their horns lowered into a charge, shot from the spoke toward them and...

Hit a invisible barrier, knocking them dizzy a moment.

"Everypony go, now! I can't keep this barrier up forever!"

Rarity's horn glowed as she stepped into position beside the Element of Magic, "You won't have to do it alone."

A few tears fell from Twilight's eyes at her friends generosity, ans she was soon joined by another unicorn, and then...White Rose, who was limping her way over toward Twilight of offer her own magical aid.

Other Ponies got ready to fight, none were ready to flee and leave their family and homes at the mercy of the NightMares.

"Go everypony!" Twilight demanded again.

"They can't run fast enough even if they wanted to," White Rose said as she stood beside the 3 unicorns.

"And we aren't going to leave you behind," Rainbow Dash said defiantly, "Let them come, we beat Nightmare Moon once, we can beat her little clones too!"

"No!" Fluttershy shouted suddenly, before her voice once more became meek, "T-They don't know what their doing, they're just...puppets."

"Flutershy is right," Zocura added, "this is no time to fight."

White Rose winced as a trio of Nightmare Earth Ponies charged the barrier, "Twilight, if the four of us pool out magic do you think you would have enough power to teleport us to safety?"

Twilight opened her eyes, they were glowing a brilliant white, as she looked unsure for a moment, then steeled her resolved, 'I'll have to.' and nodded, "But if I do the barrier will fall, everypony will have to get close, this will take split second timing."

"You can do it Twilight," Spike cheered.

"Go for it Sugarcube," Applejack rooted.

"Everypony get close to Twilight," Rainbow Dash ordered.

About a Dozen ponies crowded around, with one Zebra and a baby dragon thrown in for good measure, Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes as the barrier fell.

"Now!" Nightmare Moon and Twilight Sparkle shouted at the same time.

NightMares charged as the barrier fell, just as a blinding flash of light enveloped the ponies, the last thing the NightMares saw was Pinky Pie charging to the front of the group and...sticking out her tongue at them.

And then everypony was gone.

"White Rose! White Rose!" A brown pelted unicorn not much older then the Elements of Harmony galloped toward the gold and white pegicorn, who was far more mature then the one Ponyville knew, this White Rose was easily Celestia's equal in stature, with a body built more like a tank then a queen, this White Rose was a mare bred for war, her gaze looking long to the east.

"What is it Acorn?" She spoke firmly but lovingly, "the eastern shores are in need of my assistance."

"We lost the Western Gardens!" Acorn announced, just as a NightMare unicorn charged their position. White Rose lowered her head counter charging, and gold and silver armor took form over her body.

Her horn struck true tearing a hole in the side of the NightMare before it slumped to the ground, it's eyes burned with unholy malice only a moment, just long enough to see the golden hooves of White Rose crush it's skull to a paste as the NightMare dissolved into black mist.

White Rose looked down at the scene of her kill with a long, sad look, lost in thought as Acorn nuzzled her a moment, "White Rose! What should we do? The Western Gardens have fallen! What are your orders?"

"White Rose!"

"White Rose!"

"White Rose!" She was back in the present, Rainbow Dash trying to get her attention, "White Rose! I asked what you know about these NightMares, you said you fought them back home."

White Rose looked around their makeshift camp a moment, Twilight was resting, even with their combined efforts the teleportation of almost a dozen ponies and one baby dragon had wiped her out. And she was still in less then prime condition herself.

White Rose pulled herself out of her memories and steeled herself, "I can't say how similar they are but back home the NightMares were all unicorns, given that that was the only breed that lived in The Glade. While a good number of them were spawned by the dark magic of their creators many more were corruptions of innocent unicorns who worked to maintain the Glade, we have at best a few days before those corrupted are consumed and there is nothing left to restore."

"This is all your fault," Applejack, tears in her eyes butted against White Rose, "Why did you bring your war here!"

In the last few hours Applejack had doubled back to town to see about any other survivors, she found non that were uncorrupted...not even Sweet Apple farm had be spared Nightmare Moon's touch, not Big Macintosh, not...Apple Bloom. She had just returned back to camp and caught the tail end of White Rose's conversation with Rainbow Dash. "It's all your fault Apple Bloom..."

Fluttershy made her way over, as did Pinky Pie, giving comfort to the morning Earth Pony.

"What about the Elements of Harmony," Spike said coming over, "The six of you..."

Applejack perked up, "Y-Yeah if we go t-together."

"We MIGHT stop Nightmare Moon," Twilight said, limping over, still a little weak, "But that wiped us out last time and..."

Rainbow Dash finished the thought, "Doesn't solve the issue of the NightMares."

Can't you make White Rose better," Fluttershy asked a brown Earth Pony with a hourglass mark, "Your a doctor aren't you?"

He shook his head, "Not that kind of doctor."

"If only my healing magic worked!" White Rose said stopping a for-hoof in the dirt.

Rarity stepped back to avoid the flying filth but got a bright look on her muzzle, "We were able to combine our unicorn magic before with Twilight," she looked over at the other unicorn that had escaped with them, "And you are a medical pony aren't you?"

The unicorn mare trotted over nodding, a pair of snakes entwined around a cross made up her cutie mark, "I am."

"Couldn't we pool our magic again to heal White Rose here?"

She shook her head, "I am a healer but don't know of any healing magic."

White Rose hoof-palmed, "But I do! Rarity was it?"

She nodded.

"Your a genius."

"We'll I don't like to brag," she said buffing one hoof on her chest while blushing slightly

"What about Apple Bloom!" Applejack said tears streaming down her muzzle still.

White Rose was silent a moment, before she began to pace, "There may be a way to tip the scales in our favor, but it's dangerous."

All six Elements of Harmony (and Spike) leap up and without hesitation or forethought exclaimed, "I'll do it!"

This brought a smile to White Rose's muzzle, looking around she moved to a large tree, "I may be barred entry back to the Glade and the hub worlds but there should be worlds connected to Equestria If I can open a passage way to a Forge World you may be able to find magical artifacts to boost your power much like how I once found armor to boost my own abilities. Except..."

"Except?" Twilight Sparkle asked aloud.

"Even if can open a portal I can't be sure I can open the same one twice, and I can only keep one portal open for so long. What's more each realm has it's own time table, what may be a hour here could be a day, a year, or a minute there, there is no way to tell. So even if I open a portal, and then even if you can find the artifacts you need in a short amount of time there is no telling if what is a hurried quest for you is already too long a quest for me to keep the portal open here."

The six Elements of Harmony (and Spike) looked among each other, but it was Rainbow Dash who spoke, "Do it."

White Rose looked at the resolved expression on the seven warriors, just as a pale green Pegasus flew over, "What about the rest of us, can we go?" She was joined in by nods from the medical unicorn, and a black Pegasus with a scarlet mane, only the brown earth pony did not approach, instead he kept watch on the horizon.

"You can all go," White Rose said calmly, "If you understand the risk."

They all nodded.

"What about you Doctor?" The black Pegasus turned to the only one not crowded around White Rose.

"Someone has to keep watch over White Rose, in case we are ambushed and all that."

A shadow fell over the group as they all realized that one all important fact, if they all went, White Rose would have to guard her flank from attack and hold the portal open all by herself.

"I'll stay," Spike piped up suddenly.

"Are you sure Spike," Twilight asked worriedly.

He nodded, pulling her head down to whisper in her ear. Twilight gasped in shock, "Spike I can't it's to..."

"You can...I believe in you Twilight"

Twilight hesitated, looking to the other ponies who looked to her confused, "O-OK Spike you stay and guard the Doctor and White Rose and I'll try your suggestion." She then looked confidently to the others, "The rest of you prepare yourselves. Rarity, Hippocrates, prepare to heal White Rose. I just need another ten minutes to recover. We leave in 15."

Everyone nodded.

The cool green grass crunched under Claire's hooves as she opened her eyes to the new world.

"Hooves?" he mind zeroed in on in a instant.

Looking down she confirmed her feeling; hooves not hands touched the soft green grass. Arching her head back she recognized the snow white fur and golden mane of White Rose all to easily, but her eyes narrowed on something new that rested, compacted, against her side.

A pair of large red and orange feathered wings.

"Rom?" She wondered, as she took a moment to experiment, feeling for the nerves and then commanding them to move.

Her wings unfolded, stretching out a impressive distance to either side and then began to beat. She began to gallop, increasing her speed, the wings almost touching the ground and then with one mighty leap she was air born.

Her heart sailed and she whinnied in the exhilaration of flight. But the moment passed as she refocused her attentions, her horn drawing her toward a old fortress of stone in the distance. Turning toward it she picked up her beat and her speed.

The fort was in disarray, walls half caved in let in bits of the fading light, thankfully White Rose did not need the light of the sun to illuminate her path. In the darkness her golden horn provided all the light she needed. Her pace was slow and cautious, her ears flicking here and there to track every little sound. So far she had escaped detection but she was keenly aware that there were other creatures in the old stone fort, their voices echoing though the halls.

She stopped, there was a new sound, not goblin. All the goblins swore, laughed, and made marry, no these voices cried and begged for freedom. White Rose followed the sound all to easily, the cries of children, until she heard them clear as day beyond the door in front of her.

There was one problem, the children's voices were not alone.

A child screamed, White Rose acted.

Bursting down the door she let out a whinny more suited to a war horse then something of peace and love like a unicorn. Fire boiled in her eyes as she set her gaze on the twisted goblin, a meat cleaver in one hand, a struggling humanoid child with long ears in the other, fighting vainly to escape the goblins grip, but was being held to a blood spattered stone table by two other goblins. White Rose's gaze drifted to a cage at the side of the room were other children were stored. And a casual glance around the room revealed bones, some days old others weeks old. A old black pot bubbling over a fire at the rear of the room. White Rose did not need to be a genius to figure out just what was going on here.

One of the goblins licked his lips, reaching for a nearby spear, "Look a Unicorn, I haven't tasted one of those in ages!"

"Let the children go," White Rose's voice resonated like a bass guitar.

"I think not," the goblin with the cleaver cackled. His lips pressing together for a dry whistle.

White Rose let out a whinny of pain as several goblins leap from the shadows and buried daggers into her back.

She began to feel cold and numb, but the wounds were not that deep, she stumbled forward and fell onto her front knees a moment.

The goblin cackled as three more of his kin circled around into White Rose's field of view. "Our weapons are coated in a paralyzing venom. In less then a minute you wont be able to move a muscle."

White Rose's voice dropped below the audible, into a range one Felt not Heard, "You won't live that long."

Her eyes rolled back into her head, a familiar tingle began at the tips of her wings and traveled up at a pace that put the toxin to shame. When her eyes rolled back they had turned black, the irises draw into daggers like a reptile and of a unnaturally vibrant pink hue.

Then White Rose bellowed a sound unheard of in this realm or beyond, a sound that had not existed for sixty five million years.

The change came quickly, but this was unlike any Exemplar mode Claire had ever experienced, and she found her body not just changing but growing at a exponential rate, filling the room with pink scales and hot breath. In moments the goblins stood face to face with a full sized monster, a creature that bore no human traits in its form and screeched with a noise that had long since gone extinct.

"D-D-Dragon!" one of the goblins trembled as Claire opened her mouth and bathed everything in fire.

She slumped down, the kitchen a mass of charred bricks, the only things not torched were White Rose...and the children. Already her body was returning to its original unicorn form, and the toxin had run its course. As fatigue caught up with her White Rose turned her eye to the child as he scrambled off the stone table, her voice a harsh whisper as her vision blurred and her eyes began to close.

"I'm sorry..." she manged to say before the darkness took her.

"White Rose?"

The voice of the medical unicorn snapped her back to the present, to Ponyville, craning her head she turned to look at her doctor, "Yes?"

"How are you feeling? I did just what you taught me."

White Rose rose slowly, working the aches out of her body as she unfurled her wings and twisted her neck, then she smiled, "A wonderful job, I think I'm all healed."

"Good, then you can open that portal you mentioned so we can get that armor," Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

"First I want to know what we are getting into, we shouldn't charge in unprepared, what can we expect?" Twilight Sparkle wondered.

White Rose sighed, taking a long breath as she turned toward a tree, "I'm afraid I'm out of my element here, I not even sure if I can find a Forge World. All I can provide is knowledge of my own experience passing through one."

"Well the tell us that," Twilight Sparkle urged.

White Rose nodded, "It was a few years ago." She paused looking back at her wings, "Just after Rom, a phoenix who had allied himself with my friends gave his life to give me strength and...his wings."

White Rose remained silent a bit longer, her recent memory resurfacing as she retold the tale, of her entry to the fort, and of...the goblins."

"What are goblins?" Spike wondered, "And what were those two legged creatures you were talking about."

Several ponies nodded.

White Rose took a moment to compose her thoughts, "Unlike...us...Goblins and Elves walk on 2 legs not four, they have neither fur nor tail but do have a mane. Their forfeit are more like the talons of a bird, good for grasping, and they wear armor and wield weapons."

"Sounds positively horrid," Rarity scoffed.

White Rose smirked, "Your realm will probably be more like this one, but it should probably be a similar experience, once I find the realm I can point out where you want to go to find your artifacts but I won't know until I connect with it. You will have to work as a team, in my own outing after I had...burned...the goblins I was so drained that were it not for the aid of a elven adventurer I would not be here today. You are going to need to watch each others backs and protect each other.

"You dun worry none about that Sugarcube," Applejack said confidently as she bucked at a invisible tree behind her.

White Rose smiled again, her horn glowing as she looked at a tree, a mural appearing on the bark painted a path not to dissimilar to the one that lead to Nightmare Moon's castle. Sweat beaded from White Rose's brow as she narrowed her eyes, "About a half a days gallop west is the ruins of a city, it looks a lot like Canterlot..." She slumped slightly as the mural remained up, "That is all I can tell."

Rainbow Dash approached the mural derisively, "Where's the portal," but as she poked it with her fore-hoof everyone gasped to see it vanish and a painting of her hoof appear on the mural. Cautiously she moved closer vanishing to become part of the mural as more of her body passed into it."

"I'll hold the portal open as long as I can," White Rose cautioned, "But I don't know if I can hold it half a day. Pray that times moves more quickly there then here so that half a day there is not nearly as long here."

The ponies nodded, entering one by one, With Twilight and Fluttershy the last.

Spike came over, tugging on Twilight's flank, "I'm ready."

She swallowed hard while Fluttershy looked nervously between the portal and Spike as Twilight's horn glowed. Twilight at first shut her eyes tight but they were a glow as she opened them and in a brilliant flash Spike exploding in size until he was the equal of a full size dragon.

Fluttershy fainted.

Wasting no time Twilight looked to Spike with a smile, "Everypony is counting on you."

Spike nodded as Twilight dragged her friend through the portal. Leaving behind only White Rose, The Doctor, and Spike.

The Doctor cantered over looking up at Spike, "Well you don't see that everyday."

"I knew Twilight could do it."

White Rose grunted in effort, all her energy focused on the portal as 9 ponies galloped off into the distance.

"She sure did," the Doctor mused, "But can she undo it when she returns?"

Epilogue: Do not read this section if you don't want to be spoiled, the ending is fresh in my mind and may undergo some changes before we get to it but I wanted to record it all the same.

White Rose Looked around the glade, once more back to her true form. The forces of the Black Unicorn and his master were in retreat, and her unicorn forces were healing, recovering and rebuilding, but they had not won. The Black Unicorn would return once he had licked his wounds and come up with a new plan.

"Aunti Rose?" A white unicorn child approached her, gently nuzzling her flanks, "Why so glum?"

A black one approached next, a sour look on his muzzle as he too nuzzled her, "You want to leave us don't you."

Two murals appeared on the side of the stables, one showed a group of pink and chocolate skilled humanoids, the other showed Ponyville.

White Rose's lingered on the images a long while then looked away with a great sigh, "N-No." Even she didn't sound convinced.

'I choose my path, and the Glade needs protecting,' she told herself, but her gaze lingered back to both portals.

"Go then," a brown unicorn child approached, "You have done your duty, take back your life, you have earned it."

White Rose dismissed the murals as she turned to looked back over The Glade, "I can't do that."

The unicorns of the Glade were not native, in fact the Glade had long ago lost it's population. There were only unicorns now because she had convinced a segment of humanity to give up their lives to help tend and protect the Glade. How could she ask them to continue their sacrifices if she was just going to run off to be normal again?

"C-come along m-my little p-ponies...w-we have work left to do."

Turning from the stables White Rose walked away, the trio following behind, tears held back with shear willpower so that the trio would not see how much it hurt to turn away from not just one set of friends, friends she would probably never see again, but two.

'So much work left to do.'

End


End file.
